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Mon 06 September, 2010

18:49 Oracle's Hurd for Phillips swap: What's the customer relations impact?» Resources | ZDNet
Oracle has a new customer relations front man: Former HP CEO Mark Hurd. Oracle's move to name former Hurd as co-president is going to be interesting to watch from a customer relations perspective....
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18:49 Hurd joins Oracle, Phillips resigns» Resources | ZDNet
Ashlee Vance at The New York Times is saying that Mark Hurd is joining Oracle as President and that Charles Phillips has stepped aside. There was no mention of Phillips next move.The moves have...
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18:05 'Little Rock Nine' member had mission» CNN.com
Jefferson Thomas was risking his well-being by leaving an African-American school for Little Rock's all-white Central High School with eight other students in 1957.

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18:00 Oracle hires former HP CEO Hurd as president» CNET News.com
Mark Hurd, who resigned suddenly last month amid an ethics controversy, will report to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, Oracle announces Monday.
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17:47 Magic shrooms may help dying patients» CNN.com
Terminally ill cancer patients struggling with anxiety may get some relief from a guided "trip" on the hallucinogenic drug psilocybin, a new study suggests.

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17:25 Winds fuel Colorado, Oklahoma fires» CNN.com
High winds helped fuel fast-moving wildfires in Colorado and Oklahoma on Monday, prompting evacuations in both states, officials said.

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17:24 Free the 'Shine! Why it's finally time to legalize liquor » Boing Boing
Ted Balaker of Reason.tv produced a video about moonshine. He says, "You can make beer at home, but if you try to make spirits at home it's a felony. Go figure." If drinking makes us healthier and wealthier, why is America's liquor policy so screwy? Jimmy Carter legalized home brewing in 1978, and that newfound freedom fueled the craft beer movement that continues to lavish beer lovers with endless choices. But in many ways, laws that govern whiskey, gin, and other distilled spirits are stuck in the 1920s. Federal agents still raid distilleries much like they did during Prohibition, and making any amount of moonshine at home is not only illegal, it's a felony that can carry up to five years in prison. The result is a market dominated by a few big names, where would-be craftsmen are forced to hide their work. And yet, despite the danger, America is in the midst of "moonshine renaissance," in which a new wave of hipster hobbyists has joined with old-time 'shiners to flout the law and do what they love to do. Free the 'Shine! Why it's finally time to legalize liquor...


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17:20 Google Says Microsoft Is Driving Antitrust Review» Slashdot
GovTechGuy writes "On Friday we discussed news that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott opened a probe into whether Google ranks its search listings with an eye toward nicking the competition. Google suggested the concerns have a major sponsor: Microsoft. In question is whether the world's biggest search engine could be unfairly disadvantaging some companies by giving them a low ranking in free search listings and in paid ads that appear at the top of the page. That could make it tough for users to find those sites and might violate antitrust laws. Abbott's office asked for information about three companies who have publicly complained about Google, according to blog post by Don Harrison, the company's deputy general counsel. Harrison linked each of the companies to Microsoft."

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17:11 More magazines go digital in iPad Apps of the Week (Appolicious) » Yahoo! News: Internet News
Appolicious - The iTunes App Store was full of good stuff this week for the iPad, including some great new magazines with awesome presentation designed specifically for the digital medium, a couple of fun games to help pass the time, and yet another Facebook app.
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17:00 Special edition Fujitsu ScanSnap with Urushi lacquer coating and gold embellishments» Boing Boing
I use my Fujitsu ScanSnap 1500M many times throughout the day, but I don't think I'll pay $3200 for the special edition model with Urushi lacquer coating and gold embellishments. The special limited-edition models have been designed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of PFU and are decorated using an Urushi lacquer coating and gold embellishments. The high-quality lacquer coating is applied using a centuries-old method which originated from Ishikawa Prefecture, a region renowned for its excellent craftsmanship in traditional Japanese lacquerware and the birthplace of PFU. The design of the special edition ScanSnap models represents the pinnacle of traditional Japanese aesthetics and convenience. The special models are the result of the collaboration between PFU and Japan’s premier maker of Wajima lacquerware, one of the most recognized examples of traditional Japanese crafts. The durable lacquer coating was applied using a special layering technique called "Tenpi kurome," and is accompanied by the depiction of a Golden Eagle (the official bird of Ishikawa) and company logo made from pure gold powder. Special Design Edition: Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 and S1300 (Thanks, David!) Fast, Excellent Document Scanner: Fujitsu ScanSnap 1500M...


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16:40 World's First Implantable Artificial Kidney» Neatorama
Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco have developed a prototype for an artificial kidney: The device, which would include thousands of microscopic filters as well as a bioreactor to mimic the metabolic and water-balancing roles of a real kidney[...] The treatment has been proven to work for the sickest patients using a room-sized external [...]
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16:25 Aging Star System Leaves Strange Death Spiral» Slashdot
jamie tips a post at Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy blog about an extremely unusual astronomical phenomenon originating from a binary system about 3000 light years away. Quoting: "The name of this thing is AFGL 3068. It's been known as a bright infrared source for some time, but images just showed it as a dot. This Hubble image using the Advanced Camera for Surveys reveals an intricate, delicate and exceedingly faint spiral pattern. ... Red giants tend to blow a lot of their outer layers into space in an expanding spherical wind; think of it as a super-solar wind. The star surrounds itself with a cloud of this material, essentially enclosing it in a cocoon. In general the material isn't all that thick, but in some of these stars there is an overabundance of carbon in the outer layers which gets carried along in these winds. ... AFGL 3068 is a carbon star and most likely evolved just like this, but with a difference: it's a binary. As the two stars swing around each other, the wind from the carbon star doesn't expand in a sphere. Instead, we see a spiral pattern as the material expands."

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16:05 Cheap, portable personal 3D printer: the UP!» Boing Boing
The UP! personal 3D printer from China retails for $1500, with goop running at $50/kg. From this early adopter's review: It runs at 0.3mm resolution, and the finished models show striations from successive layers of goop, but light sanding produces a smooth finish. For objects with funny extrusions and sitcky-outie bits that aren't stable until they are fully printed, the printer calculates and adds support struts on the fly, and these have to be removed with a hobby knife after printing. Personal Portable 3D Printer (via Futurismic) Shapeways 3D printing by Internet: 500 free beta signups 3D printing with ice 3D printing comes to ceramics Shapeways interviews Makerbot: 3D printing ahoy! Sci-fi objects from a 3D printer Turn an inkjet into a 3D printer High-end 3D printer art Scientific American: five 3D printers...


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15:58 Art Deco motorcycle mod» Boing Boing
This 1936 Henderson motorcycle was given a superb Art Deco mod by Frank Westfall of Syracuse, NY and displayed at last summer's Rhinebeck Grand National Meet. The Knucklebuster blog got to see and photograph it in person there, and has a thrilling account of its performance: "The bike is a fantastic piece of history, the craftsmanship is absolutely stunning and it's surely more of a museum piece than a daily rider. Frank has obviously spent an incredible amount of time meticulously restoring and rebuilding the bike to its current gorgeous state." 1930 Art Deco Henderson (Thanks, Littledragon!) Dead man propped on his beloved motorcycle for funeral Motorcycle sidecar that turns into a canoe Homemade motorcycle ad on Craigslist Royal Enfield Military 500 motorcycle First Look: Mission One electric motorcycle Gadgets Coordinated motorcycle performance video from the 1950s...


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15:53 XKCD cake» Boing Boing
Pink Cake Box made this custom XKCD wedding cake for one of their customers in New Jersey: "The top of the cake includes cutouts of the comic characters with a red heart on a wire between them. The entire cake is covered in white fondant with black thin bands at the base of each tier. Equations inspired by this comic decorate the remaining tiers." xkcd Comic Wedding Cake (via Super Punch) Bakers make cake with image of flash drive instead of image in ... Resignation letter on cake Katamari Damacy cake kicks ass HOWTO bake a no-mess chocolate cake in five minutes Cthulhu cake! Funny cake decorating flub AT-AT wedding cake...


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15:38 'Vicious thugs' kill pizza delivery man» CNN.com
Boston police have arrested three suspects who they say stabbed a Domino's pizza delivery man and drove off in his car.

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15:36 American Business Embraces 'Gamification'» Slashdot
Hugh Pickens writes "JP Mangalindan writes that for years psychologists have studied what makes video games so engrossing — why do players spend hours accruing virtual points working towards intangible rewards and what characteristics make some games more addictive than others? Now, companies are realizing that 'gamification' — using the same mechanics that hook gamers — is an effective way to generate business. For example, when Nike released Nike + in 2008, it 'gamified' exercise. 'Place the pedometer in a pair of (Nike) sneaks and it monitors distance, pace and calories burned, transmitting that data to the user's iPod. The Nike software loaded on the iPod will then "reward" users if they reach a milestone,' writes Mangalindan. 'If a runner beats his 5-mile distance record, an audio clip from Tour de France cycling champ Lance Armstrong congratulates him.' In addition, users can upload their information, discuss achievements online with other users, and challenge them to distance or speed competitions. The result: to date, Nike has moved well over 1.3 million Nike + units."

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15:22 Sheriff says teens texted him for pot» CNN.com
Two Montana teenagers texting in search of some marijuana got the wrong number. Seriously wrong. They wound up messaging the local sheriff, and he messaged right back.

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15:16 Petraeus warns against burning Qurans» CNN.com
The U.S. commander in Afghanistan criticized a Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Quran on September 11, warning that it could endanger American troops.

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14:48 Interview with Sillof» Neatorama
We scored an exclusive interview with Sillof, the creator of these awesome handmade toys. He’s also making stop-action films now, which you can check out below. DI: How did you first hit on the idea of creating Star Wars character toys but spinning them WWII or Samurai, for instance? I think it’s pretty brilliant! Sillof: Thanks, I [...]
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14:46 Polls Show Netizens Oppose Craigslist Censorship (PC World) » Yahoo! News: Internet News
PC World - Web-based polls and views express online show popular opinion is against the censoring of adult services ads on Craigslist. A poll at Mashable shows 71 percent of the respondents voted no to the question "Should Craigslist's Adult Services be censored?" Meanwhile, the Washington Post asked its readers, "Do you agree with Craigslist's decision?" to block access to its Adult Services section. Fifty-two percent of them said no.
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14:40 Plagiarizing a Takedown Notice» Slashdot
ChipMonk writes "Over at hobbyist site OS News, editor-in-chief Thom Holwerda published a highly skeptical opinion of the announcement of Commodore USA's own Amiga line. Within hours, Commodore USA sent a takedown notice to OS News, demanding a retraction of the piece and accusing the site of libel and defamation. What's funny is that the takedown notice was mostly copied, with minor edits, from Chilling Effects, a site dedicated to publicizing attempts at squelching free speech. The formatting, line breaks, obtuse references to 'OCGA,' and even the highlighted search terms were left largely intact."

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14:39 Obama: $50B for roads, rails, runways» CNN.com
President Obama is stepping up his efforts to revive the economy. In a Labor Day speech in Milwaukee, he outlined a plan to spend more on roads, railways and runways.

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14:25 Japanese Game Show Video of the Week» Dvorak Uncensored

No audio, but you can probably figure out what’s going on without it.



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14:16 Rep. Frank faces town hall foe in Mass. primary (AP) » Yahoo! News: Internet News

FILE - In this Monday, April 6, 2009 file photo, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, addresses an audience at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, on the campus of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass. Frank faces opposition in the Sept. 14, 2010 primary.   (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)AP - Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank's retort was an Internet sensation.



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13:59 No Agenda ShowEating the Evidence» Dvorak Uncensored

This Episode’s Executive Producer: Sir Paul Couture
Associate Executive Producers: William Macey, Pieter Niessink, Jessica Riesterer
Knighthoods: Sir Hugh Wilson, Sir Matthew Fannin
Art By: Nick the Rat

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No Agenda Survey Results

Listen to show by clicking ►

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Show notes here.
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Donate to show here or here.
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13:53 Sony Has Lost the PS3 Hacking War» Slashdot
YokimaSun writes "Sony may have dealt a major blow to the PSjailbreak sellers, but the release last week of PSGroove, an open source version of the hack, has now opened the floodgates of ports to mobile phones such as the Nokia N900 and Palm Pre. The final kick in the teeth is that a port of the exploit has been released by Waninkoko of Wii custom firmware fame for the Dingoo Handheld, which is a homebrew console that is very popular amongst emulation fans. It makes you smile that you can use one homebrew console to hack another to get homebrew on that console. Awesome." pudge notes that you can apparently do the same with a TI-84 Plus graphing calculator (YouTube video).

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



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13:40 Paper: Van der Sloot admits extortion» CNN.com
Joran van der Sloot admitted in an interview with a Dutch newspaper that he extorted money from the family of Natalee Holloway, but his attorney in a Peruvian murder case suggested Monday that his client's comments may have been mistranslated.

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13:22 Android isn't surging just because Apple is letting it» Resources | ZDNet
Despite the superior user experience of the iPhone, Android has somehow gained a lot of momentum. I suggest it's not because iPhone is only available on AT&T, but because Android is the...
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13:17 Men More Susceptible to Memory Decline» Livescience.com
Men more likely than women to experience memory problems in old age.
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13:01 UK's Royal Mail Launches First Intelligent Stamps» Slashdot
An anonymous reader writes "The Royal Mail on Friday issued what it called the world's first 'intelligent stamps,' designed to interact with smartphones using image-recognition technology. The Royal Mail's latest special-issue stamps, devoted to historic British railways, are designed to launch specially developed online content when a user snaps them using an image-recognition application available on iPhone or Android handsets. 'This is the first time a national postal service has used this kind of technology on their stamps and we're very excited to be bringing intelligent stamps to the nation's post,' a Royal Mail spokesman said in a statement. 'Intelligent stamps mark the next step in the evolution of our stamps, bringing them firmly into the 21st century.'"

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12:53 Driver fails at making a getaway after hitting a parked car» Boing Boing
(Video link | Benny Hillified video link) After the driver hits a car, he or she tries and fails to make a quick getaway....


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12:50 Is Craigslist bluffing over adult ads?» CNET News.com
Having taken down its Adult Services section without explanation, some are speculating whether Craigslist is trying to teach attorneys general a lesson, rather than permanently averting its gaze from adult ads.
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12:49 How to Start a Fire Using Only IKEA Products» Neatorama
(Video Link) We’ve all contemplated that nightmare scenario: you’re trapped in an IKEA store after closing, the cold of winter is seeping into your bones, and worst of all, a pack timber wolves is starting to circle around you. You need to start a fire now. But how? This video by Vimeo user [...]
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12:46 Oliver Sacks on face blindness» Boing Boing
Author and neurologist Oliver Sacks has prosopagnosia (face blindness) and he wrote about it in The New Yorker. The article isn't online, but here's an audio interview with him. From The New Yorker's abstract of the article: Severe congenital prosopagnosia is estimated to affect two to two and a half per cent of the population—six to eight million people in the United States alone. Writer describes his own difficulties recognizing and remembering faces. He also has the same difficulty with places and often becomes lost when he strays from familiar routes. At the age of seventy-seven, despite a lifetime of trying to compensate, he has no less trouble with faces and places than when he was younger. He is particularly thrown when seeing a person out of context, even if he was with that person five minutes before. Writer gives several examples of his inability to recognize familiar people out of context, including his therapist and his assistant. You Look Unfamiliar - an audio interview with Oliver Sacks...


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12:33 Jim Woodring's giant steel dip pen project is fully funded» Boing Boing
Great news! Jim Woodring has raised the funds required to build and demonstrate a giant dip pen (David wrote about it in July). The dip pen is a bit of fetish item for me (as it is for many pen users). The pen is extremely difficult to master but ultimately allows for an extraordinary degree of expression. The well-constructed pen and ink drawing is a monument to perseverance, requiring tremendous patience and control. I am thrilled by the challenge of creating such drawings in public and introducing new audiences to the allure of the medium. The pen (nib) itself will be approximately 16 inches long, made of steel and fully functional. The holder will be six feet long and made of wood with a metal sleeve insert to hold the pen. Nib and holder will resemble as closely as possible the actual implements on which they are based. Once the pen and penholder are built I will train myself to ink with it; and once I've done that, I will arrange at least two public performances in which I will use the pen to ink large graphite drawings on 3' x 5' sheets of bristol. The money raised will go towards the engineering and manufacture of the steel nib; the creation of the pen holder, which will be hand turned and lacquered with a cork wrapping and metal insert with spring retainer; the supplies to create the public drawings (ink, paper, graphite, eraser, and); and the creation of the drawing table itself. Don't miss the video where Jim describes the project....


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12:20 Ancient Nubians Brewed Antibiotic Beer» Neatorama
A chemical analysis of Nubian mummies dating back 1,600 years indicates that the ancient Nubians brewed beer with tetracycline, an antibiotic. Chemist Mark Nelson recently published an article arguing that this activity was intentional: Nelson found large amounts of tetracycline in the bones tested from the ancient population, which lived in the Nubian kingdom (present [...]
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12:16 Odd CB radio cards from the 1970s» Boing Boing
Artist Mitch O'Connel bought a some unusual CB radio cards at a flea market. Love these personal CB radio cards, the more homemade looking the better. The sometimes naive art seems more personal, contains great left field imagery and, as an artist, less threatening! CB radio cards: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4...


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12:12 Rulers of Science» Neatorama
Rulers of Science and Great Women Rulers of Science rulers – $2.95 After their scientific achievements, it should be a cinch for the likes of Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, and Charles Darwin to help you measure things. Here’s the perfect gift for students, scientists, teachers and history buffs: The Rulers of Science and the Great Women [...]
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12:10 WikiLeaks Calls For Assange To Step Down» Slashdot
Stoobalou writes "A member of Iceland's parliament and prominent organizer for whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks has turned on the site's spokesman, Julian Assange, urging him to step down over rape allegations made against him in Sweden. Birgitta Jonsdottir told news site The Daily Beast that she did not believe Assange's repeated assertion that the allegations of rape and molestation made against him were part of a US-backed smear campaign to distract attention from documents posted on the site laying bare US involvement in the war in Afghanistan and further promised revelations."

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12:02 Money Buys Happiness Only Up to a Point» Livescience.com
Above about $75,000 income, money doesn't do much for your emotional well-being.
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11:36 Wonderfully Strange Japanese Toy Designs from the 19th Century» Neatorama
If you think that all those strange Japanese toys were recent inventions, you’d be wrong: as this BibliOdyssey post about Japanese toy design from the turn of the century, Japan has always been wonderfully strange: Link
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11:35 10 Most Valuable American Coins» Neatorama
The next time you get spare change, take a closer look at the coins. Who knows, you may get very lucky and land yourself an 1873-CC Liberty Seated Dime (valued at $2.5 million) or the 1913 Liberty Nickel (valued at $6 million): Though it seems only a fool would pay upwards of six million dollars for [...]
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11:34 Facebucks: Facebook Money Becomes Reality» Neatorama
Yesterday, the online social media giant Facebook entered the gift card business by selling Facebook Credits cards at Target store near you. The credits allow you to buy applications and virtual goods (think World of Warcraft gold farming, but without the farming and at a much larger scale). Ron Callari of satirizes the advent of Facebook [...]
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11:32 Double Dragon and Other Disappointing Teen Movies of the 1990s» Neatorama
Ever since there have been movies, there have been disappointing movies. But nothing disappoints more than the movie-adaptation of your favorite childhood idols and characters. Take, for example, Double Dragon: Double Dragon was solid proof that Nintendo and Hollywood had a sinister plot against the youth of the early 90’s. This 1994 **** was based on another [...]
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11:14 Programming Things I Wish I Knew Earlier» Slashdot
theodp writes "Raw intellect ain't always all it's cracked up to be, advises Ted Dziuba in his introduction to Programming Things I Wish I Knew Earlier, so don't be too stubborn to learn the things that can save you from the headaches of over-engineering. Here's some sample how-to-avoid-over-complicating-things advice: 'If Linux can do it, you shouldn't. Don't use Hadoop MapReduce until you have a solid reason why xargs won't solve your problem. Don't implement your own lockservice when Linux's advisory file locking works just fine. Don't do image processing work with PIL unless you have proven that command-line ImageMagick won't do the job. Modern Linux distributions are capable of a lot, and most hard problems are already solved for you. You just need to know where to look.' Any cautionary tips you'd like to share from your own experience?"

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10:46 "I Love Boobies" Bracelets Create Controversy» Neatorama
In an effort to make young people more aware of breast cancer, the Keep-A-Breast organization is marketing wrist bands which proclaim “I [heart] Boobies.”  Middle school and high school students around the country are wearing these to school and finding themselves in conflict with dress codes. “We have an existing dress code that specifically states clothing, [...]
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10:38 First official Windows Phone 7 hits the web - "The revolution is coming"» Resources | ZDNet
The first official Windows Phone 7 ad hits the web, and it ptomises that "the revolution is coming."
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10:37 Bosnian woman saves puppies tossed into river: report (AFP) » Yahoo! News: Internet News

This photo taken in 2006 shows a web page from www.youtube.com displayed on a computer screen. Five puppies that were thrown into a river by their owner, sparking worldwide outrage after a video of the deed appeared on YouTube, have been rescued and put up for adoption, a Croat daily said Monday.(AFP/File/Samantha Sin)AFP - Five puppies that were thrown into a river by their owner, sparking worldwide outrage after a video of the deed appeared online, have been rescued and put up for adoption, a Croat daily said Monday.



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10:37 What are your favorite physics websites? » Boing Boing
Physics.org is looking for the best physics-centric sites on the Web, and they need your help. The first ever Physics.org Web Awards is now open for nominations. We're looking for great sites suitable for a non-specialist audience in the following categories: * Best blog * Best news site / online magazine * Best podcast * Best Q&A / ask the expert site * Best revision site * Best kids' site * President's prize (anything which doesn't fall under any of the categories above) You can nominate sites until the 10th of October and there's several ways to nominate. On Twitter, you can send a message to @dotrythisathome or make a general tweet using the #pwa10 hashtag. There's a Facebook page. Or you can just send an email. Winners will be announced just as soon as the judging panel—which includes yours truly—reaches a decision....


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10:21 Ryanair's CEO Suggests Eliminating Co-Pilots» Slashdot
postbigbang writes "Ryanair's miser-in-chief Michael O'Leary now suggests eliminating co-pilots as a way to save money. Will airliners be powered by drones, or is it actually viable to have just a single pilot on passenger planes?"

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10:07 Ex-ELO cellist dies in hay-bale collision» CNN.com
A former cellist with the rock group Electric Light Orchestra was killed in southwestern England on Monday in a car crash involving a large bale of hay, local police said.

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10:01 Midichlorian Rhapsody» Neatorama
(YouTube link) How do you make Star Wars prequels better… or at least more tolerable? Shorten them to six minutes altogether and put it behind a parody of “Bohemian Rhapsody”. -via The Daily What
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09:40 How to open a new book» Boing Boing
A limber binding is a happy binding. (Submitterated by Gabriel Andery)...


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09:40 Nike Unveils New iPhone App Just for Runners (Mashable) » Yahoo! News: Internet News
Mashable - Nike has just rolled out a new iPhone app for runners, available for download now [iTunes link].
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09:36 For the photographers out there - Toshiba debuts world's fastest SDHC cards» Resources | ZDNet
You don't come across many pro digital cameras making use of SD card memory because SD cards aren't as fast as CF cards. Well, not any more, as Toshiba unveils the world's fastest SDHC memory cards.
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09:36 Alliances, Referrals, Kickbacks, Reselling: Where's the independent advice in this?» Resources | ZDNet
Can you be a consultant and still accept referral fees from a hardware or software manufacturer? Can you do it if you disclose these monies? The answer depends if you are a consultant or a...
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09:36 Self-Powered Parts Are the Future» Slashdot
bossanovalithium writes that an umbrella group including Japanese heavyweights like Panasonic and Toyota is working on bringing the price of self powered parts down to levels where they can be mass produced: "The idea is that the parts will make external power sources redundant — because they can convert energy from body heat, light and vibrations straight into electricity. Self powered electronics have already sporadically been used in technology like wall-mount remote control units for air conditioners, says Nikkei, but existing parts are bulky and cost a couple thousand yen a piece. 3,000 yen is about $35 — which means they're not the best bet, financially, yet."

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09:20 Police seek help after spy found dead in bag» CNN.com
Police asked for help in last month's death of a man who worked for British intelligence and whose naked body was found in a padlocked duffel bag in his bathroom.

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09:13 Washington Post writer learns Twitter lesson» CNET News.com
Sportswriter suspended for posting false info on Twitter appears to now understand error of toying with Web and own credibility.
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09:12 Chimpanzees Outwit Human Hunters» Neatorama
Primatologists in Guinea have observed wild chimpanzees intentionally disabling snares: On two occasions witnessed, the chimps successfully deactivated the traps set for them.[...] A typical snare, for example one made by the Manon people of Bossou, consists of a loop of iron wire connected by a vine rope to an arched stick, often a sapling. The sapling puts [...]
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09:03 xkcd Wedding Cake» Neatorama
The artists at Pink Cake Box made a wedding cake inspired by the webcomic xkcd: The top of the cake includes cutouts of the comic characters with a red heart on a wire between them. The entire cake is covered in white fondant with black thin bands at the base of each tier. Equations inspired by [...]
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08:43 Best Way To Archive Emails For Later Searching?» Slashdot
An anonymous reader writes "I have kept every email I have ever sent or received since 1990, with the exception of junk mail (though I kept a lot of that as well). I have migrated my emails faithfully from Unix mail, to Eudora, to Outlook, to Thunderbird and Entourage, though I have left much of the older stuff in Outlook PST files. To make my life easier I would now like to merge all the emails back into a single searchable archive — just because I can. But there are a few problems: a) Moving them between email systems is SLOW; while the data is only a few GB, it is hundred of thousands of emails and all of the email systems I have tried take forever to process the data. b) Some email systems (i.e. Outlook) become very sluggish when their database goes over a certain size. c) I don't want to leave them in a proprietary database, as within a few years the format becomes unsupported by the current generation of the software. d) I would like to be able to search the full text, keep the attachments, view HTML emails correctly and follow email chains. e) Because I use multiple operating systems, I would prefer platform independence. f) Since I hope to maintain and add emails for the foreseeable future, I would like to use some form of open standard. So, what would you recommend?"

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08:17 Jordanian websites shift political dissent online (Reuters) » Yahoo! News: Internet News

Inmates participate in a computer workshop in Al-Mwaqqar Rehabilitation and Correctional Centre near Amman, Jordan, November 4, 2009. REUTERS/Ali JarekjiReuters - Mocking officials online, exposing high-level corruption and discussing political tension could land journalists in many autocratic Middle East states in jail.



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08:00 Parrot iPod-Controlled Quadricopter Launches This Week» Slashdot
MojoKid writes "Remote-controlled helicopters are not new, but Parrot's AR.Drone Quadricopter is set to make a splash when it goes on sale on Sept. 9th. It will use an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad as a controller, and give a live video feed from two different cameras to the pilot. Each model comes with two hulls, one of them for indoor use, with protective loops around the rotors. The device creates its own Wi-Fi network, which the iOS device connects to in order to control the Quadricopter."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



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07:54 Abstinence Makes the Heart Grow Stronger?» Neatorama
Isabella Blyth of Gorgie, Scotland turned 106 years old on Saturday. She looks much younger, and attributes her long and healthy life to the fact that she’s never been romantically involved. The plucky pensioner, who celebrates her birthday tomorrow, has no regrets about living a life of abstinence and in fact believes it has made her [...]
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07:51 Comic Book Wedding Invitations» Neatorama
Etsy seller swelser creates custom wedding invitations and save the date cards made to resemble vintage comic book covers! You can picture yourself as not only soon-to-be-married, but as a crime fighting adventurer as well. Link -via Rue the Day
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07:49 The History of Ms.» Neatorama
The use of Ms. as a title for a woman who is either married or not goes back a lot further than you may think. The Oxford University Press found an example printed in a newspaper in 1885. Ever since “Ms.” emerged as a marriage-neutral alternative to “Miss” and “Mrs.” in the 1970s, linguists have been [...]
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07:47 Shredding the Sink» Neatorama
These parakeets belong to Inner Huckleberry, who submitted this rad photo to Cute Overload, where you can get a closer look. Link
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07:40 Latest leaked draft of secret copyright treaty: US trying to cram DRM rules down the world's throats» Boing Boing
Michael Geist writes in with the latest news on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), the secret, closed-door copyright treaty that will bring US-style copyright rules (and worse) to the whole world. Particularly disturbing is the growing support for "three-strikes" copyright rules that would disconnect whole families from the Internet if one member of the household was accused (without proof) of copyright infringement. The other big US agenda item is cramming pro-Digital Rights Management (DRM) rules down the world's throats that go way beyond the current obligations under the UN's WIPO Copyright Treaty. In the US version, breaking DRM is always illegal, even if you're not committing any copyright violation -- so breaking the DRM on your iPad to install software you bought from someone who hasn't gone through the Apple approval process is illegal, even though the transaction involves no illicit copying. Ironically, this DRM push comes just as the US courts and regulators have begun to erode the US's own extreme rules on the subject. Or perhaps this isn't so surprising: in the past, the US copyright lobby has torpedoed the courts and Congress by getting USA to commit to international agreements that went far beyond the rules that they could push through on their own at home. Given the history of ACTA leaks, to no one's surprise, the latest version of the draft agreement was leaked last night on Knowledge Ecology International's website. The new version - which reflects changes made during an intense week of negotiations last month in Washington - shows a draft agreement that is much closer to becoming reality. Square brackets [ed: these indicate areas where there is still debate] have been removed from many sections, leaving the core issue of scope of the agreement [ed: that is, whether the treaty will cover things like EU-style trademark rules that would prohibit calling it "cheddar cheese" if it's not made in Cheddar, England] as the biggest issue to be resolved when the next round of negotiations begins in a few weeks in Japan. Perhaps the most important story of the latest draft is how the countries are close to agreement on the Internet enforcement chapter. The Internet enforcement chapter has been among the most contentious since the U.S. first proposed draft language that would have globalized the DMCA and raised the prospect of three strikes and you're out. In the face of opposition, the U.S. has dropped its demands on secondary liability [ed: that is, forcing ISPs and online services to police and censor their users or face prosecution] but is still holding out hope of establishing digital lock rules that go beyond the WIPO Internet treaties and were even rejected by its own courts. ACTA Text Leaks: U.S. Concedes on Secondary Liability, Wants To Go Beyond DMCA on Digital Locks New ACTA leak: It's a screwjob for the world's poor countries ... ACTA "internet enforcement" chapter leaks Delusional EU ACTA negotiator claims that three strikes has never ... Biggest-ever ACTA leak: secret copyright treaty dirty laundry ... ACTA leak: Now we know who is against transparency - USA, Korea ... Secret ACTA fights over iPod border-searches Secret copyright treaty leaks. It's bad. Very bad. ACTA goes public...


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07:35 Apple, Google To Clash In Music Space By Christmas» Wired Top Stories
Google is in talks with music labels on plans for a download store and a digital song locker that would allow its mobile users to play songs wherever they are as it steps up its rivalry with Apple, according to people familiar with the matter.



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07:16 ACTA Text Leaks; US Caves On ISPs, Seeks Super-DMCA» Slashdot
An anonymous reader writes "Given the history of ACTA leaks, to no one's surprise, the latest version of the draft agreement (PDF) was leaked last night on KEI's website. The new version — which reflects changes made during an intense week of negotiations last month in Washington — shows a draft agreement that is much closer to becoming reality. Perhaps the most important story of the latest draft is how the countries are close to agreement on the Internet enforcement chapter. In the face of opposition, the US has dropped its demands on secondary liability for ISPs but is still holding out hope of establishing a super-DMCA with digital lock rules that go beyond the WIPO Internet treaties and were even rejected by US courts."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



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06:41 What's Behind Craigslist's Self-Censorship? (PC World) » Yahoo! News: Internet News
PC World - Craigslist left everyone guessing why the site decided to close its adult services section on Friday by replacing the steamy destination with a "censored" banner. The online classifieds Website took action without releasing a statement and has so far refused comment. Craigslist's adult services section housed sexually explicit ads for escorts, masseuses and similar content. The move comes after 17 state attorneys general pressured the site to stop displaying its adult services section.
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06:33 Hands-on With the iPad Alternatives On Display at IFA» Slashdot
Barence writes "This week's IFA show has seen a flurry of Android-based alternatives to the iPad emerge from leading manufacturers. The Samsung Galaxy Tab made a strong first impression on PC Pro's reviewer. The 7-inch tablet's TFT screen 'beams forth with rich, saturated colours and wide, wide viewing angles,' the device is capable of Full HD playback and the TouchWiz UI is 'clearly intended to draw customers away from the iFamily.' Elsewhere, ViewSonic has launched a pair of 7-inch and 10-inch tablets, the larger of which dual boots into either Android or Windows 7. 'Our first moments with Windows 7 were surprisingly painless, too: we expected the Atom processor and 1GB of memory to be horrendously sluggish, but it wasn't the case,' PC Pro reports. Finally, Toshiba's 10.1in Folio 100 marries Android 2.2 with Nvidia's Tegra 2 platform to deliver 'mighty graphics crunching power.' The build quality left a little to desire, though. 'The 14mm thick chassis feels lightweight, and even relatively gentle twisting motions left the Folio's plastic body creaking under the stress.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



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06:00 Tech fixes to wind turbine-radar conflict face hurdles» CNET News.com
Technologies that help air traffic control systems discern flying airplanes from wind turbines show positive results, but cooperation among government agencies is needed.
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06:00 TARP: A Profitable Venture For The US» Dvorak Uncensored

For fixing leaks in TARP-funded banks

Uh, oh. Don’t let Congress know about the profits made from TARP. They’ll figure out a way to do these sort of things to raise money so they can spend more. On the other hand, if it allowed for lowing taxes… Right. Haha! That’ll happen!

According to a report in The Banker magazine, it seems that the TARP was successful to the US in terms of return on investment and the stated goal of the program. The following are some of the key points quoted by the magazine based on the July report from SIGTARP, the body monitoring the various programs under the umbrella of the TARP:

* 87 TARP recipients had repaid all or a portion of their principal or repurchased shares, for a total of $201.5B.
* A total of just $182.5B of disbursed TARP funds is outstanding.
* By July, the US government had received $22.7B in interest, dividends, sale of warrants, stocks and other income.
* Of the 707 banks that received almost $205B in TARP funds through the Capital Purchase Program (CPP), 76 have fully repaid their funds to a total of $138.4B. Hence the US has recovered 67.5% of the funds invested in banks.
* Of the remaining banks that owe money to the US, 580 of them owe less than $100M.
* The US government reaped a high rate of return on the TARP funds that have been fully repaid already. The top 15 by total proceeds yielded an average non-annualized return of 10.2%.



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06:00 Behind the scenes with Google's Doodle team (photos)» CNET News.com
Everyone knows about the special versions of its logo that Google posts from time to time. But how do they come about?
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06:00 At Google, doodling is real work» CNET News.com
There's a whole team behind the special Google logos that mark holidays, big events, and VIP birthdays. CNET's Daniel Terdiman witnesses the Doodlers in process.
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05:48 M2Z's Free, Wireless Broadband Killed In Advance» Slashdot
mspohr writes with a sad excerpt from Fast Company: "Despite a seemingly stout business plan, and all the financial, social, and educational benefits it would bring, the FCC's just turned down M2Z's application for a coast-to-coast free wireless broadband system. ... The FCC is known to have heard complaints about M2Z's plan from existing wireless carriers. Though M2Z's network would've operated at under 1 Mbps peak speeds — meaning it was very slow by today's standards, and probably snail-like by tomorrow's — its free pricing may well have tempted many folks away from spending cash with an established ISP. Those carriers are now reported to be pleased with the FCC's decision, though they argue it's in line with the greater National Broadband Plan. Whenever that actually gets off the ground."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



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05:31 The Lost Cities» Neatorama
Everyone fantasizes about accidentally uncovering a treasure. Pompeii and Herculaneum were such treasures. They existed for a thousand years until, in one brief moment, they disappeared. Here’s the story of how they were lost… and found. (Image credit: Flickr users Simon & Vicki) VESUVIUS BLOWS Two thousand years ago, the prosperous cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum thrived near [...]
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05:30 He’s A Climate Change Skeptic No More» Dvorak Uncensored

A well-known climate change skeptic has changed his mind regarding the importance of global warming, and in his new book, he is urging the spending of over $100 billion annually to help fight warming.

Bjorn Lomborg, an academic and environmental author, has held a strong opposing opinion against global warming for some time now, writing books such as “The Skeptical Environmentalist.” In this book, he argues against claims regarding certain aspects of global warming, species loss, water shortages, etc. [...] Lomborg has now switched teams and makes this new vision clear in his upcoming book, “Smart Solutions to Climate Change,” which will be published next month.

Lomborg never denied the human role in global warming, but always argued that trying to counter climate change should be a “low priority” when it comes to government spending. [...] So what made him change his mind? According to Lomborg, the Copenhagen Consensus project, which is where a group of economists are asked to consider the best way to spend $50 billion, made him reconsider global warming’s importance.
[...]
Lomborg now proposes a global carbon tax to raise $250 billion annually, where $100 billion will be spent on clean energy research and development, $50 billion on climate change adaptation and $1 billion on low-cost geo-engineering solutions. He wants the rest to be spent on better healthcare in poor countries and cleaner water.



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05:02 Leaked Google Documents Reveal How Much Big Brands Spend on Search Ads (Mashable) » Yahoo! News: Internet News
Mashable - Ad Age has obtained an internal Google document that highlights some of the biggest AdWords buyers for the month of June 2010, offering insight into how big brands are using Google and how much they are spending.
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05:00 BBC Correspondent Says Israeli Mossad Agents Caused 9/11» Dvorak Uncensored

This is ex-BBC presenter and Middle East expert Alan Hart on the Kevin Barrett show.

Should we take bets on how many more conspiracy stories (with an assortment of players) and interviews will appear during this coming week? Makes the Kennedy assassination conspiracy theorists seem like a knitting circle jerk.



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04:57 Facebook Glitch Let Spammer Post To Walls» Slashdot
angry tapir writes "A clever spammer found a glitch in Facebook's photo upload system and used it to post thousands of unwanted Wall messages last week. Facebook confirmed the bug Friday, after notifying affected users of the issue. Most of the messages promised 'Free iPhones,' a common spam message on Facebook these days. Facebook says that the spammer hit thousands of profiles before the company removed the spammy photos and notified affected users. No accounts were compromised as a result of the bug."

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01:44 The State of Household Robots» Slashdot
paulelaguna writes "The dream of owning a household robot is starting to become reality, particularly for people in Japan. There are robots to help you do the dishes, move furniture, and even robotic wheelchairs to help you get around. Really, the only question that remains for us is when do we move?"

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01:43 Former Google China Head Invests in Chinese Startups (PC World) » Yahoo! News: Internet News
PC World - One year after leaving his position as head of Google's China operations, Kai-Fu Lee is funding a dozen startups with his new company Innovation Works to seize on opportunities with China's booming Internet market.
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Sun 05 September, 2010

23:48 Senate Candidate Sued By Copyright Troll» Slashdot
The Iso writes "Las Vegas based company Righthaven found two articles from the Las Vegas Review-Journal about Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle reprinted on her web site without permission, so it did what it always does: bought the rights to the articles from the Review-Journal and sued the alleged infringer, seeking unspecified damages."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



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22:03 Breastfeeding a Calf» Neatorama
Well, if you think about it, many of us drink cow’s milk, so this Indian villager is just returning the favor: Since the death of the calf’s mother when it was only three days old, Chouthi Bai has breastfed the animal three or four times a day. "After her mother died, I held her in my arms [...]
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21:57 Working The Red Shift» Neatorama
Working the Red Shift – $14.95 by Mark Heath Always late to work or school? Mark Heath has the reason: the universe is conspiring against you by pitting you against the dreaded Red Shift. Check this and Mark’s other neat science-inspired T-shirt designs out over at the NeatoShop. See also Science T-Shirts | Funny T-Shirts | Artist-designed [...]
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21:57 Surfing a Monster Wave» Neatorama
There are surfers and then there’s Mike Parsons. In this video clip, the Australian pro surfer surfed a 64-foot tall wave at Jaws in Hawaii, a world record at the time: Link
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21:56 Smoking Dog» Neatorama
Bad puppy? How about bad puppy owner? Zeng Ziguang of Wuchang, Hebei Province, China, has taught his puppy to smoke: He now claims the dog is addicted to tobacco and gets through a packet of cigarettes a day. "He hated the smell of smoke to begin with. But I trained him to get used to it by [...]
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21:55 Space Shuttle Atlantis Cockpit» Neatorama
Photo: NASA Don’t let my button-happy son see this! Dark Roasted Blend has a very neat photo gallery of Mega Dashboards and Instrument Panels. This one above is from the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Believe it or not, the dashboard above was "simplified" in an March 2000 update to the space shuttle. Link
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21:54 Fur Graffiti by Neozoon» Neatorama
chivvy, furcoat-recycling, Paris 2010 Urban art collective Neozoon turn old fur coats into silhouettes of animals roaming Paris and Berlin. I’ll leave the interpretation of the political message of fur coats and the place of wild animals in modern society to you – but first, check out their website here: Link | Interview with Wooster Collective [...]
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21:53 President of the Galaxy Visits FanExpo 2010» Neatorama
What did Zaphod Beeblebrox do after his gig as the President of the Galaxy? Why, the "Best Bang Since The Big One" went to FanExpo 2010 in Canada! Popped Culture has a nifty gallery of Canadian cosplayers livin’ it up in Toronto last month: Link
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21:52 What Happened to Your Browser When You Get Rickrolled» Neatorama
What happens to your browser when you get Rickrolled? Carlos Bueno visualized the network packets of a YouTube video, slowed down 12 times: You can clearly see the handshake, some odd client/server negotiation, and the full ramp-up. Created using Packet Flight: github.com/aristus/packet-flight Each flying circle represents a network packet. The small green ones are control packets: ACK, SYN, [...]
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21:50 The Smoking Machine» Neatorama
If machines could develop cancer, this one is doomed: Norwegian artist Kristoffer Myskja hacked together what is probably the second most useless machines ever made (the first one being this one, of course). Behold, the Smoking Machine (heck, it even litters!): Link [embedded YouTube clip]
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21:49 What the Next Generation Won't Know: Watermelons Have Seeds» Neatorama
Add this to the long list of things the next generation won’t know: watermelon has seeds. Jane Black of The Washington Post writes how seedless watermelon is replacing old-school ones in the grocery stores: According to the National Watermelon Promotion Board, only 16 percent of watermelons sold in grocery stores have seeds, down from 42 percent [...]
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21:38 UK Music Industry Calls For Truce With Technology» Slashdot
Stoobalou writes "The British music industry has called for a truce with the technology firms with whom it has till now fought a bitter battle over rights, royalties and file sharing. Feargal Sharkey, CEO of lobby group UK Music, told a conference in London this week that it was time for the music and technology industries to set aside their differences and strive instead toward a common goal: nothing less than the total global domination of British music."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



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21:13 So, What Proof Whisky Can They Make From Your Urine?» Dvorak Uncensored

Gilpin Family Whisky

Large amounts of sugar are excreted on a daily basis by type-two diabetic patients especially amongst the upper end of our aging population. As a result of this diabetic patients toilets often have unusual scale build up in the basin due and rapid mold growths as the sugar put into the system acts as nutrients for mold and bacteria growth. Is it plausible to suggest that we start utilizing our water purification systems in order to harvest the biological resources that our elderly already process in abundance?

Sugar heavy urine excreted by diabetic patients is now being utilized for the fermentation of high-end single malt whisky for export. The Whisky market is growing faster then any other alcoholic beverage worldwide. With a prevalent genetic weakness being exposed in the northern hemisphere leading to a sharp rise in type two diabetes, economists have found a new exportable commodity to exploit and are keen to capitalize on this resource quickly.



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19:34 The New Difficulties In Making a 3D Game» Slashdot
eldavojohn writes "MSNBC spoke with the senior producer of a new stereoscopic 3D game called Killzone 3 and highlighted problems they are trying to solve with being one of the first FPS 3D games for the PS3. The team ran into serious design problems, like where to put the crosshairs for the players (do they constantly hover in front of your vision?) and what to do with any of the heads-up display components. Aside from the obvious marketing thrown in at the end of the article (in a very familiar way), there is an interesting point raised concerning normalized conventions in all video games and how one ports that to the new stereoscopic 3D model — the same way directors continue to grapple with getting 3D right. Will 3D games be just as gimmicky as most 3D movies? If they are, at least Guerrilla Games is at least making it possible for the player to easily and quickly switch in and out of stereoscopic 3D while playing."

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19:18 Bill Kutik on HR Collaboration Options» Resources | ZDNet
A recording of a Skype conversation with Bill Kutik, the eminent independent Human Resources technology analyst who co-chairs the upcoming September 29 annual HR Technology Conference in...
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18:32 The Ig Nobel Prizes in Manga» Neatorama
American comic books mostly concentrate on adventure, especially the adventures of super heroes. Japanese manga magazines, on the other hand, tackle a wide variety of subjects that you’d never expect to be shown in graphic form. The magazine called Young Jump published a manga version of the history of the Ig Nobel Prizes (covered previously [...]
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